The Senate voted unanimously 99-0 to confirm Whitman as administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency after voting 75-24 minutes earlier, along partisan and
geographical lines, to accept President Bush's choice of Norton to be secretary of the
interior.

Most of those opposing Norton, 46, were Senate Democrats from Eastern states. Her most
vocal support came from Senate Republicans in Western states with a large percentage of
federal-owned lands. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who backed both women, missed the votes
due to weather-related travel problems.

The votes left all of Bush's Cabinet seats but one - that of attorney general - filled
just 10 days after his inauguration.

Whitman, 54, a two-term Republican governor popular with lawmakers, will resign her
post one year shy of completing her second and final term.

"It's an honor," Whitman said of her new job at EPA. "There are hard
decisions to be made with this agency, and you can't make everybody happy."

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee's panel on forests and public lands, said the Bush administration is going to
make important policy shifts on the environment.

"What you're going to see this administration say is that environmental policy
will become a rule of law again and a rule of process and procedure with
credibility," Craig said in an interview.

At her confirmation hearing, Whitman promised "a strong federal role" on
environmental protection but said she will review several regulations issued in the last
month of the Clinton presidency, including expensive new diesel standards.

Norton, a past advocate of state's and property rights, encountered more opposition in
becoming the government's chief steward for half a billion acres of federal land and
natural resources as secretary of the interior.

Republicans said they were confident Norton could balance preserving and developing
those resources.

"She grew up in Colorado, she understands what wilderness means," said Sen.
Bob Smith, R-N.H.

Democrats said they only hope that Norton, a protege of Reagan-era Interior Secretary
James Watt, doesn't live up to their worst fears.

"I hope she listens to this and proves me wrong," said Sen. Barbara Boxer,
D-Calif., who voted against the nomination. "She's out of the mainstream of
thought."

Some issued dire warnings.

"I believe that the record of this administration will amount to a rather direct
assault on environmental protection," said Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., who also
voted against Norton.

Environmentalists lobbied intensely against Norton out of concern she would favor oil
exploration and development ahead of protection of public lands.

"We're quite disappointed," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, the conservation
advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, which did not oppose Whitman but lobbied
against Norton. "We're concerned that throughout her 20-year career she has
represented polluters and special interests, not our natural heritage."

After senators from both parties - in a chamber split 50-50 along party lines - said
they would support Norton's nomination, environmentalists lowered their sights and hoped
merely for a substantial protest vote.

Sierra Club spokesman Allen Mattison noted that twice as many senators voted against
Norton - 24 - as voted against Watt on Jan. 22, 1981.

"It says to me that people are going to be watching everything she does," he
said. "We don't feel that the election gave Bush any mandate to plunder the public
lands, and this further confirms that."

Despite lingering questions, Senate Democrats such as Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico said
they were willing to give Norton the benefit of the doubt.

At her Senate confirmation hearing, Norton and her Republican allies backed away from
many of her earlier and controversial stands such as arguing that the Endangered Species
Act and the Surface Mining Act are unconstitutional.

"History warns us that it is right for us to be concerned," Sen. John Kerry,
D-Mass., said in comparing Norton to Watt. "We have witnessed confirmation
conversions before." Kerry voted against her.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., disagreed. "I've listened to some of the
detractors on the Senate floor," he said, "and I have to tell you that is not
the Gale Norton I know."